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IDW Delays February 18 Titles Due to West Coast Port Congestion

While not as dramatic as the never-ending snowfall in the northeast of the United States, or as buzz-inducing as the fluctuating prices at the gas pump, the continuing issue of a labor dispute and resulting congestion at the Long Beach, CA ports has been causing no end of problems for American businesses. And next week, it hits the comic book market.

IDW Publishing has announced that its titles scheduled to arrive in stores on Feb. 18 will not be making anyone’s pull list for the time being — and the following weeks’ titles may be affected as well. “Due to the ongoing problems at West coast ports, our normal shipping procedures have been completely interrupted, causing unpredictable delays,” IDW’s statement reads. “Regrettably, this has resulted in all our books planned for release on 2/18 to be delayed. We’veÂ looked at every possible scenario to prevent this, but the situation is completely beyond ourÂ control. We are takingÂ steps to improve thisÂ for theÂ immediate future, but the books and products that areÂ currently on the water cannot be re-directed. We will be updating our weekly releases and keeping you informed as the situation works toward a resolution. We understand this is not an ideal situation, and apologize for any inconvenience this causes, and look forward to things getting backÂ to normal in ensuing weeks.”

IDW has informed CBR News that all digital releases will be delayed as well, in order to maintain a synchronized schedule between the two formats.

CBR News reached out to Diamond Comic Distributors to find out if any other publishers have found themselves similarly affected by the port congestion.

“Diamond is monitoring the port situation closely, and we are working with our publishers and suppliers to make sure their products and merchandise move as quickly and effectively as possible to market,” Diamond tells CBR News, noting that at this time, IDW is the only publisher experiencing delays due to the port congestion.

Additionally, Diamond assures CBR that due to the nature of the delay, no actions will be taken for any affected publishers or retailers as might normally relate to late shipping issues.

The following IDW titles were originally scheduled to go on sale February 18.